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If Global-Warming Fears Die, These Companies Win

Finally, the reason that matters to me as a father, the weather and degree of storms isn't any worse now than expected without AGW. Every time a newsworthy storm hits, we receive a second storm of talking heads telling us it's from AGW. It's as if we didn't have storms before we flipped on a light switch.

Again, it comes down to sample sizes and understanding you can't isolate one extreme and rare storm and reasonably draw conclusions from it. In a nutshell, the sky certainly isn't falling, and violent tornadoes, snow fall, Tropical Storms, and hurricanes are not increasing in frequency or intensity during the long-term average.

[Read: <a target="blank" data-add-tracking="true" href="http://www.mainstreet.com/article/moneyinvesting/credit/debt/how-olympian-dug-himself-out-220000-debt"><em>How This Olympian Dug Himself Out of $220,000 of Debt </em></a>]

I'm sure there will be plenty for proponents and skeptics alike in the latest IPCC report and the next. At the end of the day, if the vilification of carbon is lost, many stocks will win. Coal-related companies are expected winners including
Alpha Natural Resources(ANR - Get Report),
Walter Energy (WLT - Get Report),
Arch Coal (ACI - Get Report),
Peabody Energy(BTU - Get Report) and
James River Coal (JRCC). Other winners include power companies that sell electric power including
Xcel Energy (XEL),
Duke Energy(DUK - Get Report),
Southern Company(SO),
American Electric Power(AEP).

Finally, companies that consume large amounts of electricity relative to their revenue and income include
Alcoa(AA),
Amazon(AMZN) and indirectly through Amazon,
Netflix(NFLX).

At the time of publication the author had no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

This article was written by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.

Robert Weinstein is an active trader focusing on the psychological importance of risk mitigation, emotion and financial behavior of market participants. Robert co-founded the investing blog
StockSaints, where he writes a journal about his trading activity and experiences.

In addition to
TheStreet, Robert also contributes to
Real Money Pro, providing real-time trading ideas for stocks, options and futures.